


Faithless

by lonecenturion (phoenix_53017)



Series: Faithless-verse [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Magic: The Gathering
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Developing Relationship, Don't Have to Know Canon, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-03
Updated: 2014-11-14
Packaged: 2018-01-21 19:11:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1560983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenix_53017/pseuds/lonecenturion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Eleventh Doctor crashed into Rory William's backyard and things were never the same [THIS WORK HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Man With the Funny Face

**Author's Note:**

> Major canon divergence. There's no Amy or River. Which means series 5-7 are pretty much nonexistent.

Little Rory Williams didn't question the blue box in his backyard so much as question the man with the funny face that came out of it.  
“Hello! I’m the Doctor!” Okay, at least he was talking.  
Rory didn't respond however, instead he cowered behind the door frame as the Doctor carefully got out of his sideways box in what appeared to be tattered brown slacks, an equally torn light blue dress shirt, and a…tie. Yes, a tie. An ugly one at that.  
“No need to hide, I won’t hurt you. I’m sorry for crushing your flowers,” The Doctor offered sympathetically as he walked a few wobbly steps toward Rory. The man had dark, floppy hair and kind eyes, which were enough to have Rory creep out from his hiding spot.  
“Ah, there you are! You look like a nice boy, what’s your name?” The man asked with a huge smile before promptly running into a tree, “Sorry…still getting used to piloting this new body. It’s the early days, things are bound to happen.”  
Rory continued looking at the Doctor with skepticism and a slight twinge of excitement. Maybe this weird man could be his friend.  
He was home alone for the night and didn't know what to do about a raggedy man that crashed into his backyard, but he wasn't about to run away.  
The Doctor blinked several times before crouching down to be eye level with the young blond. He was still smiling, even though that didn't do much to ease Rory’s nerves.  
“What’s your name?” The Doctor asked again.  
“R–Rory Williams.”  
“Rory,” The man said his name as if tasting it before smiling wider, “I like that name. Tell me, Rory, do you think I could have some food? I’m absolutely starving! I don’t think I've ever had a craving with a new body, but I guess this one has a new set of rules.”  
The boy gave the older man a skeptical look before looking over the Doctor’s shoulder and at the sideways blue box.  
“Is that your spaceship?” Rory asked timidly, to which the Doctor laughed quietly.  
“It is! And I crashed it! But not to worry, she’ll fix herself. In the meantime, let’s say you and I eat an early breakfast,” The Doctor suggested as he stood back up. He certainly was a jittery sort of man.  
The eight–year–old figured that he didn't have much of a choice. He really wanted to see the inside of the man’s spaceship and, honestly, the Doctor seemed a danger more to himself than to Rory. Plus Rory had taken to learn some karate in his free time.

 

“Where am I exactly? What year is it?” The Doctor asked as he followed Rory into the kitchen. The house was fairly clean and decently furnished, but it was clear that Rory was spending the night alone.  
“Leadworth. 1997,” Rory mumbled as he opened the fridge to see what was edible. Seeing that there wasn't much, he made a note to get groceries soon, “Anything you want?”  
The Doctor had sat himself down at the table and in the full light, he looked even more ridiculous. Rory noticed that the older man had trainers on, which looked completely out of place with the rest of his attire.  
“Ah, just start giving me things, I’ll figure it out. New body means new taste buds.” Rory didn't know what the Doctor meant by that, but he listened and began grabbing anything that didn't need to be cooked.

 

The Doctor ended up spitting out an apple bit, yogurt, and baked beans. When trying bread and butter, there was a sliver of hope he might like it, but then he threw the rest out and yelled at it to stay out.  
When Rory offered bacon, the Doctor accused the child of trying to poison him. Then he accused Rory of being insane when he offered the Doctor carrots.  
“There must be something you like! You’re wasting all my food!” Rory snapped in frustration, which surprised them both because Rory had been fairly quiet up until then.  
“Well then…let’s see what’s left,” The Doctor suggested as he stood up and went over to rummage through Rory’s fridge.  
A minute or so later, the Doctor made a pleased sound as he pulled out a bag of frozen fish fingers and a cup of vanilla custard.  
“I think this will do nicely.”  
Rory raised his eyebrows at the strange combination, but then remembered that he had definitely seen pregnant women eaten stranger things.  
“Come on, Rory, let’s sit down and eat!” At the suggestion, Rory grabbed another cup of custard and a spoon before joining the Doctor at the table.

 

“You don’t seem afraid of me,” The Doctor noted as they ate. Rory glanced up from his custard with a blank look.  
“You don’t look that scary,” He retorted.  
The Doctor laughed as he dipped another fish finger into his custard.  
“Believe me; some beings are terrified of me.”  
Rory thought this over as he watched the other eat.  
“You’re an alien.” It wasn't a question. Rory was fairly certain that the Doctor wasn't from Earth and neither was his blue box.  
“Oh…you’re a smart one, I like it,” The Doctor commented before he began to walk away, grabbing a banana on his way out.  
“Can I go with you? In your spaceship?” Rory began following the Doctor back outside to where his box was.  
“It’s too dangerous right now, it’s really damaged. However, I promise that I’ll be back in ten minutes!” The Doctor declared as he climbed onto the box.  
Rory couldn't really protest since the Doctor was an adult and because he didn't want to blow his chances at getting away from Leadworth.  
“Ten minutes, Rory Williams! Then I can show you the stars!” The Doctor added before disappearing into the box and closing the doors.  
Suddenly, the box began to make noise and fade, to which the boy stepped back before turning and running into the house.  
He was determined to leave his boring town and his equally boring father behind.  
He began packing a suitcase and he changed out of his pajamas, wanting to be completely ready for when the Doctor came back.  
The boy looked around his room one more time, reminding himself that he was leaving everything behind. He smiled as he realized that he finally had a friend in the Doctor before running back downstairs with his suitcase.  
Rory sat down on his suitcase with an eager smile as he looked up into the night sky.  
“I’m going to see the stars,” He whispered excitedly.  
But the man with the funny face and the ugly tie never came back.


	2. Hello Again

Today was Rory's twenty-second birthday and he was spending most of it working at the Royal Leadworth Hospital.  
After the Doctor disappointed him, Rory began to feel more alone and this was proven to him as he only had one friend-Alec.  
"You should go out tonight with me and the guys," Alec was saying, "You waiting every year for your raggedy man to come back is getting pathetic."  
"I'm not waiting for him," Rory protested, "I just don't want to go out and get blackout drunk."  
Alec grinned as they walked into the nurse's station.  
"You're still mad about the stripper, aren't you?" His friend asked, which made Rory flush.  
The blond man didn't respond. Instead, he got ready to go home where he was sure to find an empty house since his dad was always gone somewhere.  
"Well, happy birthday Rory. Maybe you'll find your doctor," Alec said in a teasing manner before walking away.  
Rory didn't have the heart to protest.

 

When Rory got home, he found that his dad was indeed gone with only a note and some money.  
He changed into a polo and a pair of jeans before heading back downstairs where he was sure he was going to spend the night catching up on his favorite shows and eating Jammie Dodgers.  
However, when he reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard a noise in the kitchen.  
He quietly grabbed a broom and crept into the kitchen.

 

To his shock, there was the Doctor sitting at his table eating fish fingers and custard.  
Rory dropped the broom with a clatter and stared at the man.  
The Doctor looked up and stared back.  
"How did you get in?" Rory asked, his voice hitching slightly.  
"The front door was open," the Doctor explained before adding, "Does Rory Williams live here?"  
Rory was speechless. How could the man not see who he was?  
"Yes, he lives here," Rory answered carefully.  
"Are you his dad then?" The Doctor asked next as he finished the custard.  
Rory crossed his arms, not quite comprehending that the alien couldn't recognize him.  
"I must look bloody terrible if you think I'm my own father," Rory quipped.  
At that, the Doctor froze and jerked his head up to really look at Rory.  
"Oh God....what year is it?"  
"2011. How nice of you to show up on my birthday fourteen years later."  
Rory was furious. He had waited for the Doctor every night since his eighth birthday and now he didn't know what to make of it.  
The Doctor looked devastated and he stood up to face the boy who had waited so long for him.  
"Rory Williams...I'm so very sorry I made you wait...I had promised you ten minutes and the stars..."  
At the mention of the stars, Rory felt even more enraged.  
"I've went through three psychiatrists. And I only have one friend on this stupid planet. Everyone else thinks I went mad!"  
The Doctor still had that devastated look on his face and he grabbed Rory's hands. Rory tried to fight, but was too upset to put in much effort.  
"I can still show you the stars...it's not too late for that, is it?" The Doctor still had kind eyes, just like Rory remembered, and he felt most of his anger deflate.  
"Just...let me pack..." Rory tugged on the Doctor's hands and led them upstairs.  
He was not letting the man out of his sight again.

 

"It's...in another dimension." Was the first thing Rory said when he boarded the Tardis.  
"Funny, most people say it's bigger on the inside," the Doctor stated as he shut the doors, "Like I said though, you're a smart one."  
Rory scanned the console room, wondering how one man could pilot such a large thing.  
"Now then. Where would you like to go first, Rory Williams?" The Doctor asked in an excited voice.  
The nurse shrugged.  
"Dunno...never really thought about it," Rory began, "I guess wherever you think we should go first."  
"Alright then, captain's choice! Hold on tight!" The Doctor pulled a few levers and pushed a few buttons before the Tardis began to shake.  
Rory grabbed onto a handrail as the raggedy man, still in the ugly tie and trainers, yelled, "Geronimo!"


	3. Call Me Dangerous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor is in desperate need of a new outfit and Rory is in desperate need of answers

“Alright, Mister Williams, what do you think I should wear? New face, new clothes!” The Doctor exclaimed as he tugged on Rory’s sleeve to lead him around inside the massive wardrobe.  
“Ahh…am I really the person you should be asking?” Rory had trouble keeping up with the energetic Doctor and almost ran into several racks of clothes and accessories. His face was smacked with a pink feather boa, to which he sputtered, before he stopped in his tracks.  
“Doctor, shouldn’t we be more concerned about other things? Like explaining how you didn’t come back for fourteen years?”  
The Doctor winced, but didn’t stop to answer Rory’s question. He merely continued onward to find something suitable for his character.  
They came upon a set of button–downs and slacks along with an array of various neck wear pieces. Bow ties, cravats, and ascots were just a few of the pieces dangling from the shelves.  
“I think this will do,” The Doctor began as he plucked a red bow ties out of the lineup, “Been a while since I wore a bow tie. I think I’ll start another fashion trend.”  
Rory crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows.  
“You’re not serious,” He commented, nodding his head towards the bow ties in the Doctor’s hand, “You’ll look ridiculous.”  
“I would not! I look ridiculous in the clothes I’m wearing now! I mean, look at these sand shoes!” The Doctor pointed at the dirty Converse he was wearing.  
“But that’s what you were wearing when I met you!” Rory pointed out as he tugged at the ugly tie around the other man’s neck, “This outfit was what you were wearing.”  
The Doctor’s face softened as he looked up at Rory.  
“You remembered what I was wearing?” He asked softly, making Rory blush and let go of the offending tie.  
“How can someone forget a raggedy–looking man that showed up with a time machine?” The nurse muttered as he went to move around the Doctor, desperate to get away from the awkwardness that was beginning to develop once more.  
“Wait!” Rory’s sleeve was gently grabbed by the Doctor again and he paused.  
He turned to face the man he had waited fourteen years for with a wary look.  
“I…I really am sorry…if I had known this would happen, I’d taken you with me that night,” The Doctor said quietly, looking away from either shyness or shame. Perhaps both, if Rory had to take a guess.  
“It’s all good…we’re here now, right? I still don’t really have anything to go back to, so it’s not a real bother,” Rory lied, looking away as well and down to the bow tie the Doctor was holding before adding truthfully, “If you really want to wear that, then who am I to say no to the captain?”  
At that, the Doctor laughed and used his other hand to pat Rory on his shoulder.  
“Just give me a moment and I’ll have a brand new outfit that doesn’t involve sand shoes and raggedy dress shirts.”  
Rory nodded shyly and turned away again to head towards what he assumed to be the exit to the wardrobe.  
“I’ll wait in the control room. I promise I won’t touch anything,” The nurse called out as he began walking, shoving his hands in his jean pockets.  
“You’re going the wrong way!” The Doctor called back, causing Rory to turn around yet again and face the other man, “It’s more to the left and not the right, if that makes sense to you. Sometimes the old girl takes fun in confusing my companions and getting them lost for hours.”  
Not knowing entirely sure what the Doctor meant, Rory took a few steps to the left, to which the Doctor nodded encouragingly.  
“Right…thanks, Doctor. I’ll just….wait in there then…” Shoving his hands further into his pockets and looking away from the brunet’s wide smile, Rory quickly made his way out of the room.

 

Rory estimated that it was about an hour later when the Doctor came back to the control room since he couldn’t find a clock anywhere around the control panel.  
“This feels like me,” The man stated as he made his way down the ramp and towards Rory, who was too busy scanning over the Doctor’s ensemble to pay attention to his words.  
A tweed jacket, suspenders, and a bow tie. Rory honestly didn’t know what to make of it all, so he stated the first thing that came to mind, “Handsome.”  
The Doctor paused in his ramble to widen his eyes at Rory before looking at the console with a blush.  
“Never had a human man call me that before.” At this, Rory furrowed his eyebrows as if offended that he wasn’t the first man period to call the Doctor handsome.  
“Oh? And what have human men called you, Doctor?” He challenged, to which the Doctor laughed without humor.  
Glancing up at the nurse, the Doctor gripped at a switch on the console in a nervous manner. Rory crossed his arms in self–defense again as he observed the Doctor. The other man’s eyes were no longer filled with the kindness that Rory saw in his memories and dreams. These were the eyes of a man who had seen and done too much. These were the eyes of a man who was far older than Rory.  
Seeing that glint in the other’s eyes compared to everything else he had witnessed of the Doctor made Rory take an involuntary step back.  
“Tell me, Doctor…what else have you been called by people like me? By people from other places? I would like to know who I’m traveling with. I’d like to know what kind of man promised me the stars when I was eight before taking off and not coming back for another fourteen years,” Rory stated, his voice wavering slightly as he wrapped his arms tighter around himself.  
The Doctor glanced Rory over like a mechanic checked a car over for flaws before giving him a brief answer.  
“Dangerous.”


	4. Little Boy Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor takes Rory to a distant Earth-like planet for their first trip

As quickly as the serious expression came over the Doctor’s face, it left and was replaced by kind eyes and a smile. It threw Rory off and he was beginning to reconsider traveling with this madman.  
“Right, now we are off to see some old friends of mine,” the Doctor began as he whirled around the console, erratically flipping switches and pushing buttons, “They’re human, not to worry, but they’re not your regular human variety. It’s a bit complicated, but they’re friendly so no worries.”  
“So…traveling back in time then? Not a different planet?” Rory was a little disappointed. He had expected the Doctor to fling open a door and there be the Andromeda galaxy, but it looked like it had to wait.  
“Oh no, defiantly not Earth. Earth-like, but defiantly not Earth. Less advanced and they still believe in magic. They’re still in their Dark Age as it were last I popped by.”  
The Tardis gave a jolt and Rory held onto a handrail as he glanced around the room. Everything about the place was so alien that the nurse didn’t know where to begin to comprehend to all.  
A few more agonizing moments of thrashing around and then the Tardis settled.  
The Doctor’s green eyes found Rory’s and he muttered, “We’re here.”

The doors were pulled back and the Doctor stepped out onto dark earth.  
“Welcome to the island of Urborg on Dominaria. This would be two years ago by your calendar,” the man began as Rory stepped out and looked around. The air felt different here, heavier somehow, and Rory found his breathing to be more labored without him even beginning to move.  
“Right, so we moved. Now where are these ‘friends’ of yours, Doctor?”  
The alien spun around before pointing in a direction and began walking off. Rolling his eyes, Rory closed the door to the blue box and followed the Doctor.  
“I’m assuming it automatically locks?” He snarkily asked the Doctor, his breath slowly becoming accustomed to the air in Urborg.  
“She does lock. She doesn’t let just anyone walk in, especially necromancers. Nasty business, necromancers. Met a female one once. Tried to curse me.” The Doctor was rambling as they walked through what appeared to be a swamp with Rory looking around in an increasingly paranoid state.  
He let the Doctor continue talking as it provided some sort of comfort as they trekked through the wilds.  
“Here we are! I hope they’re home.” The Doctor’s statement brought Rory out of his revere as they came upon a simple two-story home in the middle of the swamplands. Through the thin curtains, there was a light on upstairs.  
The Doctor knocked while Rory examined the house in the increasingly dim light. It reminded him of houses built in the English Middle Ages. He seriously hoped they at least were advanced enough to have plumbing.

A man several inches taller than either of them answered the door. His light brown hair was cropped short and his brown eyes were dull as if he never slept.  
“Can I help you?” The man sounded suspiciously Scottish. Rory completely expected the man to speak in an alien language.  
“Venser! How wonderful to see you again. I’m the Doctor and this is my companion Rory.” The Doctor smiled and leaned back on his heels with his hands clasped behind his back expectantly.  
The man named Venser looked over them both. His scruff-covered jaw was tense and his arms were bracing the doorframe.  
“The last time I saw the Doctor, he did not have your face nor did he have a companion.”  
“Ahh, then could you ask Jace to come down or is he busy? We can wait.” The Doctor was almost smug as he looked up at Venser, who was also bulkier than either the Doctor or Rory.  
“Already did,” Venser replied confidently a moment before he stepped aside to let a man Rory’s height and build stand next to him.  
The man, Jace, had hair darker than the Doctor’s and blue eyes. He was trembling slightly and seemed to unsteady on his feet as he leaned part of his weight on Venser. His gaze was set on the Doctor, who stared right back with a smirk.  
After an intense pause with just the strange sounds coming from the bogs, Jace finally looked away from the Doctor and looked up at Venser.  
“It’s him…it’s defiantly him…” His voice sounded distinctly American to Rory. “But…his face is so different…but he’s not a shapeshifter or an illusionist or an–“  
At this the Doctor laughed and placed a hand on either man’s shoulder.  
“My friends, I told you the last time I was here that I wasn’t of your world. You see spectacular, unexplainable things every day and yet still insist that I’m a part of your world. Now please gentlemen, let me introduce you to my companion.” At the mention of his name, Rory gave an awkward wave and smile.  
“Hello, I’m Rory of Earth, though I suppose you’ve never heard of it…” He trailed off as Venser and Jace gave him weak smiles before each shook his hand.  
“Rory is an interesting name. Is your Earth like here?” Jace asked him as he stood up straight.  
“At least this one has a name, unlike you Doctor,” Venser added jokingly as he grinned at the Doctor, “Now come in, it’s getting too dark for us to be out.”

The inside was more chaotic than outside. Almost the entire downstairs was covered in metal parts of various machines and tables filled with leather-bound books and metal tools. There was a clear pathway through all the mess and that’s where Rory and the Doctor followed their hosts to a larger table that was cleared off.  
“Sorry about the mess, you know how Venser gets, Doctor,” Jace told them apologetically as he walked over to another table to pour them drinks.  
“So…a mechanic then?” Rory asked as he looked at the strange machinery. He didn’t recognize the metal as anything of Earth.  
“In a way, yes, and an inventor. Here he’s known as an artificer. He once created an artificial creature that was accepted by a hive mind of the species it was created after, an impressive feat indeed,” the Doctor explained as Jace came back with drinks and sat down next to Venser.  
“And it still comes back to me from time to time. I called it a success,” Venser said proudly, his eyes brightening.  
“Obviously that’s not is true talent. Artifacts are more of a hobby compared to his real talents,” Jace pointed out before taking a sip of his drink, to which Venser blushed.  
Rory listened intently as he took a sip of the drink, which tasted strongly like wine. He froze when he felt a foreign pressure in the front of his head before it retreated.  
The Doctor twitched an eyebrow as he glanced over at Jace.  
“Trying to look into his head without permission is rude, Beleren,” the Doctor lectured.  
“My apologies. I was merely curious. I wanted to know if he had any talents,” Jace replied coolly as Venser shook his head gently.  
“He’s still young, Doctor. Young and a bit reckless, although I think I’m finally beginning to rub off on him,” Venser commented as he looked down at Jace with a smile. Rory looked between them with his own curiosity.  
Jace’s eyes snapped to him and he added, “You’re thinking too loudly, Rory. To answer your question, no.”  
Embarrassed, Rory looked down into his half-empty mug and didn’t say a word. He focused on quieting his thoughts instead.  
He thought of home and how his father was going to come back from work to find Rory gone. His father was going to find the broom on the floor, a plate of half-eaten fish fingers, and Rory’s dressers empty. The nurse didn’t know how to feel about all of this as he began tuning out the conservation between Venser and the Doctor.  
Rory felt the pressure on his head again, but this time it was accompanied by a faint voice.  
“I’m sorry for trying to sneak into your head. Sometimes I forget my manners,” whispered Jace in Rory’s head, “Could I get a glimpse of your life? Maybe show me a memory? What is your world like?”  
Rory closed his eyes and conjured up his clearest memory, the night he met the Doctor.  
After a minute or so, Jace’s voice resonated in his head again.  
“Fascinating. You have so many things I have never seen before. Perhaps in time you can explain to me what their purpose is and how they work. I think Venser would be interested as well.”  
At that, Rory smiled a little. He thought his world was boring, but he was glad to find someone who could look at it with fresh eyes.  
“Rory? Are you with us, Rory Williams?” He heard the Doctor’s voice and instantly snapped out of his train of thought. He heard Jace snicker in his head before slipping out.  
“What? What is it, Doctor?” The nurse asked worriedly.  
“I asked Venser and Jace if they would like to come travel with us. They’ve never been aboard the Tardis either, but I assured them it would be interesting for them both.”  
“Interesting is defiantly a word for it…” Rory trailed off as he caught the smirk on Jace’s face.  
“So it’s settled then? If so, then I can get my things,” Venser piped up, his eyes still alight with excitement, “I promise I won’t bring much, I learned my lesson when I went to Ravnica with Jace the first time.”  
The Doctor chuckled and shook his head.  
“I’m sure the Tardis will have almost anything you could want or need, my friend.”  
“Splendid!” Venser exclaimed before looking over at Jace and asked in a quieter voice, “Would you like me to grab your things as well? I promise to be careful with the journal this time.”  
Jace gave the artificer tiny smile before nodding. Then Venser quite literally vanished, making Rory jump back in his chair violently and Jace laugh.  
“We forgot to mention that Venser’s natural gift is teleporting. Really it’s quite remarkable how he can have such a talent in a place like this,” Jace explained as he stood up and began walking towards the staircase.  
“Not to worry, Rory, all of this will be explained to you in time,” the Doctor added as he followed the telepath, causing Rory to follow suit.  
“I can feel your confusion from here. Your mind is in a tangle to make sense of it all. Do they not have mind mages and teleporters where you’re from?” Jace called out to him as he slowly wound his way through the room.  
“No, just us regular human beings,” Rory answered sarcastically as he came over to stand next to the Doctor.  
“How boring,” Jace retorted as Venser came back from upstairs, arms filled with bags.

After a few minutes of Venser and Jace taking in the interior of the Tardis, the Doctor led them off to find a place for them to store their things, leaving Rory alone in the console room again.  
It was all so much. Over the course of what felt to be twenty-four hours judging by how tired he felt, Rory’s life had changed drastically. The doctor came back, they went to a completely different planet, he met a telepath and teleporter, and now they were all roomies.  
“And all on my birthday,” Rory muttered to himself as he leaned back against the console, “Happy birthday to me, indeed.”  
“Did someone say they were having a birthday?” called out the Doctor as he came bounding down the ramp with a huge smile, followed by Venser and Jace at a considerably slower pace, “Birthdays must be celebrated at all costs.”  
“How old are you, Rory?” Venser asked, his hands busy flipping pages in a tome.  
“Twenty-two,” the nurse replied, completely bewildered.  
“We’re the same age and yet vastly different,” Jace commented.  
“But both human,” said the Doctor as he began running around the console again in order to get it moving, “Both incredibly human.”  
However, at the moment, Rory was the one who felt like the alien in the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise you don't have to know Magic lore. Everything that needs to be know will be explained.


	5. The Statue in the Wardrobe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Company have their first adventure together

After a quick tour of the Tardis and around six hours of sleep, the Doctor opened the doors to reveal what he said was New York City 1932.  
“Don’t step out just yet; you all need to dress more appropriately. You all will get looks, especially you Jace with your dark and mysterious cape. Defiantly get suspicious looks. Off to the wardrobe, all of you,” the Doctor rattled on as he shooed them away from the doors and towards the expansive wardrobe.  
“Doctor, what sort of clothing are we expected to wear?” Venser asked as he followed the Doctor and Rory. He was keeping his strides shorter and slower in order to not let his longer legs get ahead of the others.  
Meanwhile, Jace was completely silent, though Rory could feel a faint crackling sound in his head, which he presumed was the telepath. The nurse projected his mind a little more, letting his curiosity and concern radiate from within.  
He got a tentative “I’m alright” in return, though that did nothing to dampen Rory’s concern.  
“Suits. A bit like my attire now. Something neither of you have seen in the worlds you’ve been to, I assure you.” The Doctor was speaking in fragments as he pushed open the doors to the wardrobe room and led them to the section he was at earlier in the day. Or was it yesterday by now?

Another half hour, or so it seemed, passed by before they finally stepped outside.  
“The mana is weak here,” Jace commented as he glanced around, “You can sense it, can’t you?”  
Venser nodded as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his brown and blue pinstriped slacks.  
“I can feel tendrils, but not enough to do much. We would exhaust ourselves trying to find more than what is already here,” he concluded before looking down at the Doctor and Rory, “Can you feel it as well?”  
Rory shook his head, not understanding what they were discussing, but he had a feeling that it was important to Venser and Jace.  
“This world isn’t anything like the ones you are used to. It is far more technologically advanced to you than to Rory and I,” the Doctor explained as he leaned against the Tardis door, “We’ve landed in Central Park for now and trust me, I didn’t bring you here myself. Something is very, very wrong.”  
“Alright. Question. What is this mana you all are talking about?” Rory finally asked, exasperated at being the odd man out, “It must be of some significance by the way you speak of it.”  
The other men gave each other looks that Rory deduced was their “who wants to tell him?” faces. Or they were playing rock, paper, scissors with their expressions.  
Jace seemed to have lost as he sighed before speaking in a very clipped, matter-of-fact tone, “Mana is connected to the lifeforce of a plane and all who inhabit it. It also needed in order for those like Venser and I to cast spells. If there is little to no mana, beings wither and die and we cannot cast spells. I cannot summon illusions, read minds, or use clairvoyance without mana.”  
“And I’m assuming Venser wouldn’t be able to teleport either,” Rory added, his arms crossed again, “I think I know what’s wrong then. If planets need this lifeforce to survive and yet there is very little of it here, then why is there still life thriving? The entire planet isn’t depleted, just here according to you lot. Something is draining it. There is no logical way for there to be little mana and yet a thriving city.”  
There was a pause and a bird chirped before Rory felt a rush of energy in his head, which made him clutch it in agony.  
“Jace, would you mind not hurting my companion every time you get excited?” The Doctor stated coolly as he pushed himself off the Tardis door and clamped a hand on Rory’s shoulder, “That was brilliant, Rory. Absolutely brilliant.”  
The nurse felt a blush creep up on his cheeks at the praise.  
The Doctor then turned to Venser and Jace and asked, “Do you think you two could find the source?”  
“It would require a lot of exertion on my part, but I believe I can,” Jace replied quietly before his eyes began to glow an aquamarine.  
“Don’t overexert yourself,” Venser chided before he was promptly shushed by Jace.  
“It’s not too far. Around few kilometers to the east,” Jace concluded as the glow faded from his eyes, “Obviously it would be easier to locate as we get closer.”  
“Brilliant! I’m still in the fifteen hour window of my regeneration, who knows what could happen!” The Doctor exclaimed excitedly as he took off in the indicated direction.  
Venser chuckled before taking off after the Doctor, leaving Rory and Jace to sigh in exasperation before taking off after the older men.

It was a good twenty minutes before they came upon an eerie–looking hotel called Winter Quay. Just standing at the front entrance gave Rory goose bumps of the unpleasant kind.  
“This is it,” Jace confirmed as he reached out to touch the door handle, “I won’t even be able to conjure up a simple illusion. I’ve never felt such emptiness in a place before.”  
“Neither have I, even during the Mending,” Venser added in a hushed tone, “and that was well before you were born.”  
Rory furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Surely, Venser wasn’t as old as he made it sound. The man appeared to be in his mid–thirties and very fit for his age, whatever it was.  
The Doctor then pulled a device out of his blazer pocket and waved it in front of the door.  
“Yes…defiantly the right place…the sensors are off the charts,” he mumbled as he pocketed the strange device before Rory could ask what it was.  
“What do your sensors indicate, Doctor?” Jace questioned as he carefully pulled open the door.  
“Danger, as usual.”

It wasn’t long after they entered the hotel that they split up into pairs to find the defiant source of the mana depletion.  
The Doctor and Jace set off to check the lower floors while Venser almost physically dragged Rory up the staircase to explore the upper floors.  
Seeing an opportunity to get some answers, Rory asked, “How exactly do you know the Doctor?”  
Venser’s usual easy smile faded into a slight grimace and Rory briefly wondered if he had hit a rough spot in the artificer.  
“Jace and I were on a planet called Mirrodin, aiding a group of rebels in a hopeless battle. We were forced to be there against our will, bloody geomancer, and I had almost perished. The Doctor had saved me. He had given me a cure for my terminal illness and had even managed to resurrect–so to speak–my friend Karn, a sentient golem. Mirrodin was lost, but the Doctor had given us a sliver of hope. No one had died under his watch and that is a blessing I cannot fathom. I am forever in his debt, given that I’ll live to see one hundred twenty–six come my next birthday.”  
At that, Rory paused and stared at the older man.  
“You must age slower or your calendar is far different from mine,” he concluded.  
His friend only smiled before adding, “By your calendar, I would actually be far older because yours has less days.”  
“Then how do you look so young? I thought you were a good thirty–five; forty if I pushed it.”  
They began walking around the third floor again after a nervous laugh, unnerved by the fact that no one had even shown up to ask them what they were doing there.  
There was a door open and they glanced at each other before stepping inside.  
The room appeared to have not been occupied for some by from the thick layer of dust that Rory could see. They looked around with caution until Venser opened up the doors to the wardrobe and they were greeted by a life–sized statue of an angel.  
Both men flinched back when the statue suddenly moved closer to them, its face completely menacing. Its mouth was gaping open and sharp granite teeth protruded out. It stood still, poised to attack.  
“The bloody hell is that?” Rory asked as he stared at the statue, trying his best to keep a calm exterior. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew he wouldn’t run away.  
“Whatever it is, it’s teeming with mana. I think it’s the reason there’s a drain,” Venser whispered as he stared at the statue.  
“Let’s back away slowly. We can take turns looking behind us, but one of us has to keep staring at it,” Rory instructed as he quickly looked over his shoulder and saw nothing behind him.  
“How do you know this will work?” Venser was visibly straining to not blink; tears were beginning to pool in his brown eyes.  
“I don’t, but we’re looking at it and it’s not moving, right?” The nurse asked rhetorically as he began backing up, “I’ll look, now blink and keep watch.”  
Venser did as instructed and they slowly made their way out of the room before Rory slammed the door shut and they took off downstairs to find the Doctor and Jace.

It didn’t take long to find the other two as they were running as well.  
“What are those creatures, Doctor?” Venser asked promptly, his Scottish accent thicker from apparent stress.  
“Weeping angels. How did you manage to escape without knowing what they are?”  
“Your companion here is probably the smartest healer I’ve ever met,” Venser replied with a grin.  
“Not too smart considering we found him in one of the bedrooms,” Jace retorted, fingers adjusting his black jacket in frustration.  
“…..what?” Rory asked dumbly.  
“An older you, lying in a bed. We watched you die,” Jace explained bluntly, “The Doctor said that the angels must have touched you at some point in time and continued doing it until you grew old and died. That’s what they do, they send you back further and further in time, feeding off of mana and time.”  
“Is there any way to stop them, then? Before they get to Rory?” Venser asked in a more desperate tone while Rory just stood there, completely stunned.  
“Well, a paradox would help, but paradoxes are dangerous business,” the Doctor replied in a somber tone, his fingers running through his long hair frantically.  
“But it would work, right? A paradox would prevent this?” Rory finally asked, crossing his arms in a bundle of nerves and determination.  
“Yes, but Rory– ” The Doctor didn’t even get to finish as Rory took off upstairs.  
His feet pounded stair after stair, just barely staying ahead of the others until he burst onto the roof, where he was greeted by the Statue of Liberty wearing the same horrific expression as the statue he saw earlier.  
“I always wanted to see the Statue of Liberty,” he muttered sarcastically as he stepped up onto the edge of the roof.  
“Rory Williams, what are you doing?” The Doctor shouted as he ran onto the roof, followed closely by Venser and Jace.  
The others stopped running when they saw the Statue of Liberty before the Doctor approached Rory with caution.  
“I just met you, Rory. I just met you two days ago when you were a little boy, I haven’t even shown you the brightest stars yet.” The Doctor looked pained as he looked up at Rory, his eyes pleading, “Please don’t do this. You might not survive.”  
“But there’s a chance might. I’m creating a paradox. If this works, I stop myself and all of New York from being fed on. The chance is worth the risk, isn’t it?” Rory asked seriously as he stared down at the Doctor, the man he had waited almost his entire life for, “If I don’t make it, then…well…I’m just very, very thankful I got to see you again. I’m glad that my childhood dream wasn’t for nothing. Thank you, Doctor.”  
“No, no, Rory. Rory, don’t–Rory!”  
Then Rory Arthur Williams, the nurse from Leadworth, was falling.

He opened his eyes and found himself staring up at the powder blue sky.  
Birds were chirping and a voice was saying, “He’s alive.”  
Rory carefully lifted his head to find Jace Beleren watching over him.  
“Where am I?” Rory’s voice was scratchy like an old vinyl record and he had a massive headache, but he was most defiantly alive.  
“Central Park. You were right, it did work,” Venser replied as he came into view before almost tackling Rory in a hug.  
“Where’s the Doctor?” He couldn’t help but ask, remembering the look of total despair on the alien’s face before he jumped.  
“Waiting for you,” Jace answered before looking over his shoulder, presumably at the Doctor, “I suggest we get you standing and then you talk to him.”  
It took a few minutes before Rory could walk on his own, but Venser and Jace let him shamble towards the Doctor, not daring to intervene.

Once Rory sat down on the bench next to the Doctor, he was greeted by the other holding his wrist tightly in a panic.  
“Rory, Rory, Rory. We've barely known each other three days and you already sacrificed yourself to save people. That was incredibly brave and stupid,” the Doctor murmured, his eyes cast down to look at his shoes, “What were you thinking?”  
Rory only shrugged.  
“I wasn’t,” he admitted, “I’m a nurse, it’s my job to save people.”  
“I should take you home right now. I’m not going to be responsible for your death.”  
Rory groaned and lightly shoved the Doctor with his free arm.  
“Did you forget that I chose to jump? That I chose to come with you? That I waited for you for most of my life? The only thing you’re responsible for is the cutoff to my left hand’s circulation.”  
At that, the Doctor blushed and let go of Rory’s wrist before placing his hands folded in his lap.  
“So, you weren’t terrified to jump off a building in the slightest chance that you might survive?”  
For the first time since they met, Rory laughed.  
“Of course I was terrified! The bloody Statue of Liberty wanted to eat me!”  
The Doctor laughed as well, leaning against Rory slightly before standing up and offering his hand. The nurse took it and was pulled to his feet.  
“Alright then, Mr. Williams, let’s go back and have another adventure. Try not to die this time,” the Doctor suggested jokingly, making Rory shake his head as he followed him back to the Tardis.


	6. The Lights of Disturbia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor takes the others to a market. [Please read warnings in the notes before reading the chapter as it contains very important information.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> VERY IMPORTANT WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER: MIND RAPE, DUBIOUS/QUESTIONABLE CONSENT THAT BORDERS ON NO CONSENT, AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT.  
> I APOLOGIZE IMMENSELY IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO READ THIS CHAPTER DUE TO THESE WARNINGS. ALL CHAPTERS GOING FORWARD WILL NOT HAVE THESE WARNINGS AS THIS IS A ONE TIME OCCURRENCE.

“I’m thankful you changed your face, Doctor. You resembled me a little too well for my liking,” Venser commented as they sat in the Tardis kitchen a week later.  
The Doctor chuckled as Rory prepared himself scrambled eggs and bacon. It was really the only things that the Doctor said was edible to Earth humans.  
“How did you sleep, Rory?” Venser then asked before taking a sip of orange juice, or at least that’s what Rory thought it was.  
“Fine…just fine…” Rory lied. When he had first went to the room labeled with his name, he found it to be an exact replica of his room back home, right down to his mum’s collection of Dusty Springfield cassette tapes he kept on the dresser. It had startled him that the room even smelled the same. And even when he finally laid down, he was restless. Really, he hadn’t slept in days.  
“Curious, Doctor. How did you manage to make our rooms appear exactly how they are at home? I’ll admit, this illusion of yours is highly advanced,” Jace commented from his place next to Venser.  
“For the last time, Jace, it’s not an illusion,” the Doctor began, “It’s advanced technology. This blue box is sentient and can change itself at will. She could easily get you lost or place the pool in the library if she wished. She was kind enough to replicate everything you had in your rooms. It’s to make you feel more comfortable, to make you feel less homesick. Now please, do not disrespect the Tardis again by calling her kindness an illusion.”  
The kitchen turned deadly silent for a few painstaking moments until Venser laughed under his breath and Rory let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.  
“You really love your box, Doctor. We both love our artifacts enough to treat them with respect,” Venser stated with a faint smile, “Most people are not aware that artifacts can become sentient and develop emotion. Most continue to treat them as mere things that can be manipulated, changed, bent to our wills. Most chose not to hear their voices, but you and I do. We were chosen to hear their voices. When I first entered my room, I was delighted that there was a table filled with instruments for me to tinker artifacts with. I gave a wall a pat and told her thank you and the wall hummed under my fingertips. She is awake, she is aware, and I don’t understand how no one can see how wonderful that is. It’s wonderful that this box is bigger on the inside, that it can take us anywhere, and care enough about us passengers to try and make us feel better about leaving home. It’s beautiful, Doctor, it’s a beautiful blue box…”  
Silence fell once again and Rory stared at Venser with a gaping mouth. Seven days on the Tardis and the artificer spoke as if he had been onboard just as long as the Doctor had.  
The space around them seemed to hum quietly and the Doctor smiled.  
“Oh, she likes you, Venser. She appreciates the kind words.”  
Rory felt a pressure in the front of his head and knew it was Jace, but this time the other wasn’t trying to read his mind. Instead, it seemed like the telepath was projecting his emotions towards everyone. This was confirmed when Venser suddenly snapped his head over to Jace and gave the other a concerned look.  
The nurse concentrated on the emotions Jace was projecting and got mostly frustration and confusion. It was confusing for Rory because he didn’t understand why Jace would get upset over Venser treating the Tardis as kind-of like another person.  
Then the pressure was gone when Jace quickly stood up and left the room, leaving a concerned Venser, an unfazed Doctor, and a baffled Rory.

The Tardis landed hours later and they stepped out into what the Doctor stated was one of the universe’s largest and most diverse markets in the future.  
“Here you are,” the Doctor said as he handed each of them a small tablet, “Touch the screen and it’ll pull up the map. Then you tell it what kind of shops you’re looking for and it’ll show you directions.”  
“Let me guess, you know every square inch of this place?” Rory asked sarcastically, which the Doctor apparently didn’t catch as he still grinned like a giddy child.  
“I’ll be off; I have been meaning to look for some special marbles for ages. Have fun and be back here in three hours.” With that, the Doctor spun on his heels and disappeared into the crowd.  
Rory looked at Jace, who had the same dumbfounded expression he did before they turned their attention to Venser, who was also grinning like a child.  
“This is fascinating! The future is full of so many wonders,” he was muttering as he played with the tablet.  
“Quit looking like a loon and let’s find a shop,” Rory told the older man in a patronizing tone, “I’m sure this place has anything you could possibly want and things you didn’t even know you wanted.”  
Venser looked over at Jace and asked softly, “Do you think there’s a chance a Black Lotus is here? Even a petal?”  
Jace stared at his friend and Rory felt a crackle spread across his mind. The telepath was restless and it was obvious.  
“Let’s find out, shall we?” Jace tapped his fingers on the surface on the tablet like an expert and soon a search bar appeared, “Reading minds is useful when learning new technology.”  
A few seconds later, a single result showed and Venser’s copper eyes visibly widened.  
“Don’t get too excited yet, you know it could very well be fake,” Jace uttered, which quickly deflated Venser, “It seems to be in a smaller store, but shouldn’t take too long to find.”  
“Will you be alright with the crowds?” Venser’s face drew into concern again as he looked down at the younger, whose hood was drawn up.  
“Ravnica is much more populated than this place, I’ll be alright. Honestly, it feels more like bees droning in my head at the moment.”  
Rory’s head was beginning to fill with more questions as he began to follow the two men towards the shop, Jace using the tablet as a guide.  
“Do you think you could find the Doctor’s mind through all the noise?” he asked the mind mage as they carefully weaved through throngs of people, some humanoid and some not.  
“If I concentrate long enough. His mind has its own unique thought pattern, relatively easy to find,” Jace explained, his navy blue cloak swaying gently with each step. As Rory followed, he began to increasingly feel more isolated among the crowd. He seemed to be the only Earth human there and it unsettled him greatly.  
“Keep calm. You’re with us,” Jace’s voice echoed in his head before sending gentle waves of reassurance.

Soon they found the shop; its windows tinted and paint an unassumingly beige. Even the sign was relatively small; just a painted wooden sign in the front window.  
Amalie’s Wonder Emporium.  
Rory opened the door and let the other men slip in before going in himself, the door giving a quiet chime as it closed behind him.  
The smell of musty things was familiar, even if everything on the shelves and tables was completely alien.  
“I guess any place with antiques has that smell clinging to it,” Rory mumbled as he gazed at a shelf full of books with titles in languages he couldn’t read. The books were of various shapes, sizes, and materials and the nurse was about to pull one out when he heard someone come downstairs.  
The woman had sea foam green skin and bleach blonde hair that crashed over her shoulders like waves. Her body was thin and clad in a simple white dress that came to her knees.  
“Welcome. I am Amalie,” she greeted them as she came over to the men, “To what do I owe the pleasure of having such fine men in my emporium?”  
Her voice was gentle and seemed to have a chime to it, though Rory couldn’t place the accent at all. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest and his feet planted firmly in the gray carpet. The room was dimly lighted, so Rory couldn’t see the exact color of the woman’s eyes and it made him even more cautious.  
Venser gave a small bow out of courtesy before asking excitedly, “Do you have a Black Lotus? The search we did showed that your store is the only one who may have it.”  
Amalie gave a low whistle in consideration before smiling brilliantly.  
“I just may have one if you come upstairs with me,” she told Venser as she placed a delicate hand on the artificer’s forearm and looked directly into his eyes, “I never keep it down here where it can easily be stolen from a poor girl like me.”  
A sliver of panic went through Rory as Jace’s thoughts tumbled through his head.  
“I can’t read her. She’s blocking me. Something is wrong.” Fragments swirled, making Rory dizzy enough to clutch a table.  
Amalie looked over at Rory and made a sympathetic sound.  
“Oh dear, are you alright? Maybe your other friend can take you outside for some fresh air. I know it can be hard for humans to breathe in here with all the dust. We’ll just be upstairs making negotiations,” she chimed before ascending upstairs, Venser slowly following her.  
“There’s nothing we can do or else we’ll draw suspicion,” Jace whispered as he pulled on Rory’s shirt sleeve, “I’ve already contacted the Doctor, he should be here soon. He said to not let Venser alone with her for too long.”  
They stepped outside where Rory could finally place his hands over his eyes and groan in annoyance at the entire situation.  
“Did you look into her eyes? Because I didn’t.”  
“She also didn’t touch either of us. She’s defiantly a seductress of some kind, but without being able to get in her mind I have no idea what she wants.” Jace let his hood down, his black hair a mess that needed serious brushing.  
“Well, my best guess is that she wants to bang a tall, strapping, bear of a man who is tall enough to be a tree.” Rory was being completely sarcastic, but he still felt a stab of annoyance from Jace.  
“It would be wise if you don’t speak of him like that. Venser may be a man, but he has never expressed any…desires so to speak,” Jace told him defensively.  
Before Rory had a chance to respond, the Doctor was running over to them, his brown hair flopping about his face.  
“I told you two to not wander off!” He exclaimed as he pointed at both of them.  
“Come on you idiot, we don’t have time for this!” Rory fired back as he grabbed the Doctor’s shirt front and almost physically dragged him inside the shop with Jace following close behind.

They rushed upstairs to find Amalie straddled on top of a half–naked Venser, her nails gently scratching his chest as his lolled from side to side in a state of delirium.  
“So, you boys decided to join in on our fun? I usually don’t try to take on multiples, but your friend was too handsome for me to resist.” Amalie slid off of Venser, making the other man whimper quietly and reach out towards her.  
“What are you, witch?” Jace hissed, his anger radiating off him.  
“Bit complicated, but a close relation to a siren or succubus,” the Doctor answered calmly, “First she lures men with her touch and then she poisons them using her saliva and then engages in intercourse with them, killing them before she feeds on their corpses.”  
“Hmm…and I have already kissed him. This one has sweet lips, I’m sure any girl would be lucky to have a kisser like that,” Amalie giggled as she came over to them, “Or…any man, but alas, I already claimed him.”  
Rory had to place a hand onto Jace’s shoulder to restrain the mind mage from attacking the siren, knowing that a touch was the first step towards death.  
“How long do we have before the poison kills him?” Rory asked, keeping his voice as steady as he could manage.  
Amalie gave him a smile and a careful once over.  
“If it weren’t for your nose, I would have taken you as well, my dear,” she commented before turning her gaze back to the Doctor, “Thirty minutes before the last breath.”  
“There is a cure. This is not the first time I have encountered your kind.” The Doctor’s tone was deathly serious and it made the smug grin slip from Amalie’s face.  
The siren lunged for the Doctor and Rory used his tablet to hit her in the temple, assuring she was knocked unconscious, but not dead.  
“Great thinking, Rory. Jace, go over to Venser and look into his mind,” the Doctor instructed as he stepped over Amalie to get to the bed, where the teleporter was still writhing in agony.  
“What am I looking for?” Jace asked as he kneeled on the bed next to his friend’s torso, hands outstretched, but not touching.  
The Doctor stood at the foot of the bed while Rory stood by the door awkwardly, his nursing skills of no use in this situation.  
“This will sound very awkward, but his deepest sexual desires. Number one sexual fantasy as Earthlings would call it.” The Doctor and Rory blushed at that with Rory refusing to look at any of his friends and instead concentrating on watching Amalie.  
He heard Jace sigh, “I’m sorry my friend, but I have to do this.”  
Then he heard Venser scream, “No! Stop it! Get out of my head!”  
Rory looked at the pair on the bed and watched as Venser thrashed around, his right arm continuously hitting Jace’s abdomen as he physically protested the psychic intrusion.  
He continued to stare in pity as Venser began to sob, his sweaty chest heaving and fingers digging into the sheets, while Jace maintained a shaky composure.  
After another moment, Rory saw Jace’s body tense up and a terse “Oh gods no” leave his lips before looking up at the Doctor with wild eyes.  
“Doctor, I can’t–this isn’t right.” Jace appeared to be on the verge of tears himself and it dawned on Rory what Jace was saying. A feeling of horror blossomed in Rory’s chest and he felt suddenly extremely nauseous.   
The Doctor had kept his absolutely serious tone as he replied, “I know it isn’t and were it not for the situation, I would never condone this. However, our friend’s life is in grave danger and this is the only way. I’m so, so sorry…”  
Tears fell from the telepath’s eyes and Rory could see the look of unrestrained terror on his pale face. He could feel the extreme guilt coming off Jace in harsh waves as he turned back to Venser.  
The artificer was breathing heavily now and his entire body seemed to tremble lightly. He stared up at Jace in stone cold fear.  
“I’m sorry…I have to…” Jace whispered pathetically.  
“J–Just do it…please…” Venser’s voice was completely wrecked, each breath making his chest rattle uncontrollably.  
“Forgive me…” At that, Rory left the room and ran downstairs. He refused to watch such a horrific act, even if it was completely justified.  
The Doctor followed him downstairs seconds later, his arms carrying the still unconscious Amalie.  
“Her powers don’t work on my species, only humans,” the Doctor clarified before setting the siren down on the floor in front of the bookcase Rory viewed earlier. His green eyes were holding back visible tears and his hands ran through his hair in what Rory assumed was a nervous gesture.  
“Doctor, is it really the only way? Is raping someone the only way to cure them of the poison?” Rory’s voice cracked as his stomach churned with nausea.   
“That is the tragedy of this. Commit one heinous act to stop another. There are many, many cruel things in this universe and that…that is one of them…” 

Half an hour later, Rory and the Doctor walked back upstairs with heavy hearts.  
Venser was asleep, chest moving more rhythmically and his face almost peaceful.  
Jace was a wreck. The sheet covered his nakedness but it could not cover his tear–streaked face.  
“What have I done?” He asked, his voice sounding like broken glass.

It was another hour before they made it back to the Tardis, Rory helping the Doctor carry Venser while Jace trailed behind them, hood drawn up and cloak pulled tight around his body.  
They took the artificer to his room where they settled him back in his bed, fully clothed, as Jace scurried away to his own room and slammed the door.  
“You keep an eye on him and come find me when he wakes up. I’ll go talk to Jace,” the Doctor whispered to Rory, who could only nod as he sat himself down at the edge of the bed.  
It was going to be a very long healing process.


	7. Rage and Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group finally ventures back out of the Tardis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional tags: Rape recovery, psychological trauma, hurt/comfort, and feels.

According to the Doctor, they had been wandering for around two weeks, to which Rory gave a doubtful look. It had felt like they had been stuck in the Tardis for a millennia with little interaction with even each other.  
Rory went to Venser’s room every day, tried to talk to the Doctor at least once a day, and couldn’t even go near Jace’s room without the mage sending him strong waves of emotion that essentially translated to “go away.”  
So, Rory spent most of his time alone exploring the Tardis. He had found a wide variety of rooms, some practical and some completely useless to him.  
However, one room rendered him silent, even in his own thoughts.  
The corridor was bathed in soft light and the air felt heavy on his tongue. He closed the door behind him with a soft click that echoed down and reverberated back. Looking around, he saw life-sized portraits of people.   
Hundreds.  
The nurse walked slowly, his footfalls echoing quietly, as he looked up at some of the portraits of people, many human and some not. He didn’t recognize any of them, but the Doctor had to have known them at some point.  
He came upon a portrait of a blonde woman in a pink hoodie. She was smiling brightly, her plump lips pulled back to show her teeth.   
Looking down at the name plate on the bottom of the frame, Rory read, “Rose Tyler…”  
He looked away to see two other portraits, both human females.  
“When will I get one?” He wondered aloud as he looked up at the last portrait, a ginger woman named Donna Noble.  
“You’ll have to stay on for a while.” At the sound of the Doctor’s voice, Rory flinched. He felt like a child getting caught with a hand in the cookie jar.  
“I’m sorry, I just…I wasn’t…” Trying to invade your privacy. The words died on Rory’s tongue as he observed the Doctor, who deliberately didn’t look at any of the portraits.  
“One day you’ll be up there…one day you’ll be another face forever immortalized in this hall.” The Doctor’s emerald eyes were dull, filled with a well of sadness Rory couldn’t comprehend.  
“Some of them have died,” Rory stated, “That day at the hotel, you looked so desperate. I hadn’t seen that look since-”  
Rory stopped himself, unable to finish as a memory flashed through his mind before he smashed it down with ease.  
The Doctor gave him a look he had grown accustomed to in the past weeks, one that told him to stop talking before he hurt someone.  
“Many have died,” the older man began quietly, “I carry their deaths on my shoulders every time I pull a lever. I have lived a very long time, Rory, I have seen many terrible things.”  
He could see it then; he could see the life drain from the Doctor’s eyes as the weight of the deaths crushed him like the weight of the world crushed Atlas.  
The tension was then broken when Venser suddenly teleported into the room, eyes clearer than they had been in days.

“That’s a terrible idea,” Rory voiced.  
“That’s a brilliant idea!” The Doctor responded, which made Rory give him a glare.  
“You are completely mad. How is going to that place a good idea? From what I‘ve heard, Ravnica is more dangerous because –”  
“Well, it’s true that the bureaucrats are atrocious, but that planet is full of various lifeforms and interesting technology. I actually had a fascinating conversation with–”  
“Doctor, are you forgetting that there’s necromancers, spies, and a –I don’t know– massively intelligent dragon? Showing up unannounced in a blue box doesn’t sound like the brightest idea,” Rory explained in an exasperated tone. He was seriously beginning to think that he was the smartest person onboard.  
Venser gave him a blank look and murmured, “I am familiar with the plane and…so is Jace…I think it will help us both if we go there…”  
The teleporter had a sliver of hope in his tone and it made Rory’s protest dissolve. He wanted his friend to get better and if going to Ravnica was part of the plan, then he couldn’t protest.  
“Alright…but I still think this is a terrible idea, especially when Jace won’t come out of his room.”  
“I assure you, Ravnica always brings him out of hiding. It’s basically his home.”

“This is a terrible idea,” Jace muttered as he drew his hood over his face as he stepped out of the Tardis, “Do any of you realize how high the bounty on my head is? The Consitorium will be looking for me.”  
“The bloody hell is that?” Rory asked as he followed Jace and looked around at the towering spires that vaguely reminded him of medieval cathedrals.  
“Some of the spies you are so worried about,” the Doctor answered as he came up to stand beside Rory, “but not to worry, they’ve been dismantled for quite some time.”  
“My point stands. Someone will be looking for me once they notice I’m here.”  
“Who do you think will find you first: Emmara, Ral, Lavinia, Vraska, or the Firemind?” Venser asked with a grin, clearly trying to make things less awkward.   
However, Rory could feel the tension between the two friends and he wondered if they could salvage whatever was left.  
“I don’t want to find out. Let’s just find whatever brought us here and leave,” Jace groaned in clear annoyance and Rory gave Venser an uneasy look.

It turned out to be none of the above, much to everyone’s relief. While they got some odd looks from the locals as expected, no one tried to kill or arrest them.  
“Jace, at some point you have to drop the illusion before you tire yourself,” the Doctor commented as they passed a couple of merfolk chatting with a human vendor.  
The mind mage dropped whatever illusion he had held up and Rory could faintly feel the other man’s paranoia.  
“What exactly did you do to have such a long list of adversaries?” The nurse asked quietly as they passed a minotaur who was carrying an axe with a handle the length of Rory’s arm.  
“Let’s just say that mind mages have a bad reputation…generally speaking.”  
“Oh, I can see why,” Rory said in a tone that bordered on resentment.  
Jace effectively ignored the jab and looked around at the various stalls.  
“Could someone elaborate on why we’re here?”  
“I wanted some mizzium and you know it only exists here,” Venser replied, his face and voice completely deprived of emotion. Jace stared up at the much older man as if trying to read his thoughts.  
“Why am I here then?” Jace voiced in a hushed tone. It was one of a million questions that needed to be asked, but the wrong person answered it.  
“I wanted you to come along,” was the Doctor’s reply and Rory felt like choking the man with his own bow tie for lying.  
Venser suddenly grabbed Rory’s wrist and began walking away from the Doctor and Jace.  
“Where are we going?” Rory asked quietly, looking over his shoulder to find the Doctor shouting at them for wandering off and Jace looking like a deer caught in the headlights.  
“I have to get away from him. I thought I could handle it, but I…” Venser stopped talking then and led Rory to a small alley where he promptly fell against the stone wall and groaned in pain.  
“What is it? What are you feeling?” Rory was in full nurse mode as he checked over his friend as he had been doing for weeks.   
“His guilt…I can taste it on my tongue…I can feel it ringing in my ears…I can feel it burn on my fingertips…it consumes him. I have known him for two years and I’ve never felt his emotions so much that my eyes blur…” Tears were visible in the elder’s eyes and Rory sighed.  
“I just want it to stop…I want the pain to stop…I don’t want to feel his guilt or mine…I want to forget…”   
“Forget…” Rory echoed softly, a feeling of dread welling up inside him once again, “You want him to erase the memory…”  
Venser looked up at him with a broken and defeated expression on his face.  
“If there is anything left to salvage with Jace, then we both have to forget. I honestly believe that unless he erases our memories that his guilt will kill us both.” Venser closed his eyes and inhaled, his chest trembling.  
Rory hated that he was of very little help in this kind of situation. He could either tell Venser how morally wrong his request was or he could support his friend’s decision.  
“If this is what you really want, then I’ll be here for you. However, I think you and Jace need to talk privately first. Do you think you can do that?”  
There was a long pause before Venser opened his eyes to stare up at the nurse.  
“I will talk to him.”


End file.
